Theme: Seeking the God who is near

Exegetical note
One interesting aspect of Paul's well-known Areopagus speech is his suggestion in verses 26ff. that God made humanity for the purpose of a religious quest, namely, that they might seek after and find God. The irony that Paul suggests, however, is that God is actually very near. Indeed, his first quotation in verse 28, whether from the pre-Socratic Epimen ides or not, actually (and no doubt unintentionally) appears to compromise the transcendence of God that is the basis of biblical theism, and to …